Alabama football team will be honored by President Obama

Thursday

Feb 28, 2013 at 2:33 PM

The University of Alabama football team will be honored by President Obama for the third time in the last four years when the Crimson Tide visits the White House next Wednesday, March 6, to be recognized for winning the 2012 BCS national championship.

By Tommy DeasExecutive Sports Editor

TUSCALOOSA | The University of Alabama football team will be honored by President Obama for the third time in the last four years when the Crimson Tide visits the White House next Wednesday, March 6, to be recognized for winning the 2012 BCS national championship.

The Crimson Tide, which also won the Bowl Championship Series title in 2009 and 2011, is expected to tour the White House and attend a ceremony recognizing the national championship. The President will also honor the UA football team for its efforts to give back to the community.

Alabama defeated Notre Dame 42-14 on Jan. 7 in the BCS National Championship Game in Miami Gardens, Fla., to claim the school's 15th national football title.

Details of the visit have not yet been released, but in its past two visits the football team has also toured other sites in the nation's capital.

Following the 2009 national championship victory, UA visited the White House in March, 2010, for a congratulatory ceremony in the East Room. UA players and coaches also visited the Pentagon, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, U.S. Capitol Building and the National Mall.

Last year, UA was honored on the South Lawn, with a Marine band playing A Marine band played "Yea Alabama" and "Stars Fell on Alabama," and closed with "Sweet Home Alabama" in the team's honor. The tour also included visits to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

President Obama called Alabama head coach Nick Saban on Jan. 10 to extend this year's invitation, joking that Saban and the Crimson Tide are beginning to make such visits a habit and commending Saban on the "incredible organization" the coach has built at UA.

Reach Tommy Deas at tommy@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0224.

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